Stacking My Abilities

Liam took out another thin stack of papers. "Here is what we know."

Jeff flipped them through. Mission location. Detailed maps. Building layouts. Guard deployments. Mission Targets...

Apparently, these thugs were living in high-end mansions now. Branded as mercenary HQ of course.

'With the aid of Atlas, no wonder I couldn't hear anything about them...'

"These guys will hold a sacrificial ritual in three days. At that time, these thugs will be gathered into the location shown to you." Liam laid out a city map onto the table.

The location was at the outskirt of this city. It's a long way to travel to get there.

"Alright..." Jeff nodded.

"Magni will ensure that none of them will escape. Jeff. The most critical part will be left to you."

"I'm listening."

"If you wear that armor over there, you will be invited into the compound with no problem."

"Ok?"

"Once inside, you must achieve three objectives. There will be severe consequences if you fail." Liam's expression turned dead serious.

"One. You have to locate their void crystals storage." Liam showed Jeff a picture.

It's a purplish-black hexagonal prism. By the prism was a tape ruler. This thing was about the size of a palm.

"Based on our readings, they should be located around this location."

Liam pointed at a red circle. It looked like a cliff area.

"If these thugs detonate those crystals, there will be unforeseeable consequences. In theory, this detonation might be enough to destroy Berrystone city entirely."

"The other two objectives can fail. Not this one."

"Find these crystals. Disarm them. Secure them."

Jeff nodded. "No problem."

"Your second objective. Eliminate the gang leader." Liam showed Jeff a picture of a dude.

Dilbert M. Reed.

It's a stout person in a business suit. He looked like an average mid-aged white-collar worker.

"Using our resources, this guy has reached SS-rank. If he escapes, this group may quickly rekindle."

"However, after this strike, they will become hostile towards the sanctuary. They may start a Guerrilla warfare with us, targeting our scavenger groups."

"If we cannot fully eliminate this threat this time, we may suffer great causalities in the near future."

"Right." Jeff nodded.

Well. Shouldn't be THAT hard right? It's not like these guys could stop Jeff. If Jeff sees the dude, the mission would be over.

"Also. Third objective. We'll need you to rescue our investigation agent. She should be held captive with the other kidnapped individuals. The thugs may hold these people as hostages. If this happens... We will be put into a very tough spot, if you know what I mean."

"Ok..." Jeff suddenly had a bad feeling about this one.

"Now, here is the tough part."

"Uh huh..."

"There are two challenges to your mission."

"One. All three objectives must be completed at once."

"Otherwise, the thugs would be alerted. Your other two objectives would fail. This entire operation would result in a terrible loss to the sanctuary."

Jeff: ...

"Two. Upon death, these thugs would self-implode into a six-feet long void rift. And the process is not subtle..."

"So assassinate my way into completion is no-go." Jeff slowly nodded his head.

"Yes." Liam nodded in affirmation.

"And we can only send in one guy..." Jeff asked to be sure.

"Their turf, their rules."

"Huh..." Jeff squinted in thought.

Sure, after entering that standstill world, Jeff was fast. But time was not actually frozen. Jeff couldn't even break the sound barrier yet.

As a result, at SS-rank, the gang boss could certainly react to Jeff with no problem.

Also, detonating something wouldn't take much time. Starting a massacre on the hostages wouldn't take much time. Entering a secret escape path as an SS-rank wouldn't take much time.

"There is no room for error." Jeff nodded.

"We need a perfect performance." Liam nodded. "To be honest, if these guys didn't cross the line, we wouldn't want to risk this operation either."

"Now, before these terrorists realize that they are exposed, we need to eliminate this threat, cleanly."

"So." Liam pushed a necklace to Jeff.

This item looked like an average necklace holding a pearl. Yet, with detection, Jeff knew that this was a glow-tier item.

"I'll lend to you." Liam looked at Jeff in the eyes.

"Just for this mission." Liam emphasized. "My only glow-tier."

"What does it do?" Jeff raised a brow.

"Psychic energy amplification."

Jeff tried on the necklace. Injecting some mana into it, Jeff suddenly felt clarity in his mind. Before, his telekinesis had a range limit of 100 meters. Beyond that, it's just hard to control.

Now, Jeff felt like he could control anything within 5 kilometers with ease.

Jeff thought about this mission for a moment. Difficult, but not impossible...

Ensure their locations. Silently close in distance without being detected. Strike.

"How about it? We think you are the most suitable for the job. But if you turn down the offer-"

"I'll take it." Jeff nodded. "It's time to settle some business."

"Good. We'll leave it to you. You are the man with 100% success rate after all." Liam extended a hand.

"And I'll keep that record going." Jeff shook Liam's hand.

"Good."

"Say. Can I keep-"

"No." Liam's cheek twitched.

Without this item, how was he supposed to coordinate things in critical times...

"But let's suppose that I accidentally had an oopsie during the mission. And I accidentally lost your necklace."

Liam: "... Glint-tier. Same type. Don't push it."

"Deal." Jeff smiled. He wasn't expecting to actually get anything in the first place anyways. Hey. Free bonus item. Why not.

Walking up to the corner, Jeff patted the armor. In an instance, it popped away.

"You got yet another ability?" Liam asked like he's not even surprised anymore.

"Well. Yeah." Jeff nodded. "You can only rely on yourself nowadays."

PAUSE: In reality, this was not an ability. But Liam didn't need to know that.

Tapping the stack of documents against his palm, Jeff nodded in thought. It's going to be a tough one. However, Jeff suddenly felt a sense of relief.

After months of searching and waiting, he was finally going to see results.

"Good. Good." Jeff pointed at Liam with this roll of papers. "I'll see you in three days."